Arc discharge lamps are noted for their color rendition and relatively long life. In today's common practice, the arc tube itself is often a ceramic vessel enclosed in a glass shroud to contain shards in the event of a non-passive failure. The shroud provides additional benefits such as UV absorbtion. While the shroud is desirable because of these benefits it does introduce problems in even the smaller wattages of the bulb because of the introduction of additional mass. Since the shroud and its enclosed arc tube (herein, an arc tube assembly) are typically mounted from only one end of the lamp, the additional mass creates a problem during shipping. To provide for adequate delivery protection these lamps are subjected to drop-tests, which among other types of testing, involves the application of a force that is substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the lamp. The application of such a force can cause movement of the arc tube assembly away from its desired alignment along the longitudinal axis of the lamp and, in severe cases can shatter or crack the arc tube or impair its electrical function by breaking one or more of the connections to the electrical lead-ins, which lead-ins also provide mechanical support for the arc tube.